This invention relates to a device for practicing sports which involve a ball or other object, more particularly a ball which is accelerated by a racquet or the like, or thrown.
There are numerous tethered ball apparatuses in the prior art. They are characterized generally by having a ball attached to a tether, which is in turn attached to a racquet or other fixed device such as a pole. All these prior devices have in some way dealt with the problem of how to attach the tether to the ball.
For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,542,661 to Gregan, the attachment is accomplished by putting an eye at 42 on the ball (FIG. 9). U.S. Pat. No. 4,071,239 to Ferguson uses a plurality of bands as shown in FIG. 5. U.S. Pat. No. 5,611,539 to Watterson et. al. which uses a net structure fixed with tether as shown in FIG. 2. U.S. Pat. No. 708,573 to Miles likewise shows a net structure with loops that attach thereto.
The problem in the prior art has been that the various means for attaching the ball to the tether have either been damaging to the ball or complex or difficult to manufacture and assemble. The present invention overcomes these prior art problems by providing a simple way to immobilize the ball within an enclosure, which in turn is attached to a tether. The ball is not damaged in any way and can be easily removed for use without the training apparatus. Furthermore, the user is free to select a ball (or other non-round object) of their choice to simulate different practice conditions.
Thus, the present invention solves the problems of needing to modify the practice ball, interchangeability of the ball, cost reduction, simplicity and has the ability to handle odd shaped and non-round objects as easily as balls.